Social Media Use: Relation to Life Satisfaction, Narcissism, and Interpersonal Exploitativeness

Abstract

The present study sought to clarify contradictory literature about the relationship between social media use and life satisfaction by using data from the Emerging Adulthood Measured Across Multiple Institutions 2 (EAMMI2) collaboration. This study examined emerging adults’ frequency of social media use for various reasons, and the relation to life satisfaction, narcissism, and interpersonal exploitativeness. As expected, life satisfaction was associated with social media use for maintaining connections but not for gaining information or creating new connections. Narcissism and exploitativeness were associated with greater social media use across all reasons. Life satisfaction correlated negatively with exploitativeness. Post hoc analyses revealed that life satisfaction was highest in participants whose primary reason for social media use was maintaining connections. This study added to existing literature by suggesting that reasons for social media, specifically using social media to maintain existing relationships, are relevant to predicting life satisfaction in relation to social media use.